Driving mechanism for laundry-machines.



P. T. GOFPIELD. DRIVING MECHANISM FOR LAUNDRY MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED 001-2, 1911. 1,3 ,19, Patented Aug. 20, 1912;

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

P. T. GOFFIELD.

DRIVING MECHANISM FOR LAUNDRY MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED OOT. 2 1911.

Patented Aug. 20, 1912.

Snow wow Show,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. v

PETER T. GOFFIELD, OF DAYTON, OI-IIO, ASSIGNOR TO THEOOFFIELD MOTOR WASHER COMPANY, OF DAYTON, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

' DRIVING MECHANISM FOR LAUNDRY-MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 2, 1911. Serial No. 652,295.

Patented Aug. 20, 1 912.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, PETER T. COFFIELD, a citizen of the United States, residing at- Dayton, inthe county of Montgomery and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Driving Mechanism for Laundry-Machines; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked'thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in driving mechanism for laundry machines.

The object of the invention is to provide a driving mechanism by means of which a clothes wringer may be disconnected, or driven in either direction from a motor.

Another object of the invention is to provide driving means whereby the cylinder or agitator of a washing machine may be driven or disconnected from a motor, and which is of simple construction and efficient in operation. Other objects of the invention will be described in the specification and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a washing machine and wringer attachment with my invention applied; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same; Fig. 3 is a detail view, partially in section, of the driving gears for the wringer; Fig. 4 is a section on the line ad of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a detail view of the driving gears for the cylinder or agitator; Fig. 6 is a detail view of the actuating lever for the gears of the cylinder driving mechanism;

and Fig. 7 is a detail perspective view of one end of the motor support.

Referring more particularly to the drawings 1 represents the tub of the washing machine which is mounted on legs 2. Within said tub I on pivots 3 is a cylinder 4 pro vided with a gear 5. The gear 5 is in-mesh with a gear6 mounted on a shaft 7 journaled in a bearing 8.. Splined'to the shaft 8 is a miter gear 10 mounted on a vertical shaft 11. The shaft 11 is j'ournaled in a bearing 12 attached to the side of the tub 1,

and isprovided with a worm gear 13. The

worm' gear 13 is in mesh with a worm 14 5 mounted on a horizontal shaft 15. .The shaft 15 is journaled in bearings 16 attached to the side of the tub 1, and is provided with a pulley 17. The pulley 17 is connected with a motor 18, preferably electric, by a belt 19. The miter gear 9 is normally held out of mesh wit-h the gear 10 by a spring 20 surrounding the shaft 7 and engaging the gear 9 and a collar 21 on said shaft. The

gear 9 is placed in mesh with the gear 10 by a lever 22 provided with a sleeve 23 mounted on the shaft 7 between the bearing 8 and the miter gear 9. The sleeve 23 is provided with projections 24 which normally lie in recesses 25 in the bearing 8. hen the lever 22 is rocked, the projections 24 ride out of the recesses 25 and thereby shift the gear 9 in mesh with the gear 10. When the gears 9 and 10 are in mesh, the cylinder 5 will bev driven by the motor; when said gears are disconnected, the cylinder will not, of course, be rotated.

The bearing 12 is provided with an extension 26 which receives a sleeve 27 to which a wringer board is attached. The board 28 is adapted to support'a wringer 29,. which may .be swung around the bearing extension 26 to any desired position. The wringer 29 may be held in the desired position by any well known means, suchas a spring-controlled pin 30, which passes through a plate 31 attached to the sleeve 27, and recesses (not shown) in a plate 32 attached to the bearing 12, below said plate 31.

One of the rollers 33 of the wringer 29 is provided with a shaft 34 on one end of which is mounted a female coupling member 35. This coupling member 35 receives a male member 36 mounted on a sliding shaft 37journaled in bearings 38 attached to the wringer board 28. The male member 36 is providedwith extensions 39 which lie in recesses or pockets 40 in the female member, and by means of which the shaft 34 is driven from the shaft 37. The coupling thus constructed permits the shaft 37 to have a horizontal moyement and forms'a suitable connection between the two shafts. The said coupling also permits the wringer to be detached from the wringer board or support 28, without distributing the driving means. The sliding shaft' 37 is provided with two miter gears 41 and 42 which are both of-saidgears 41 and 42 will be out of mesh with the gear 43, and the wringer will be disconnected from its driving means. When the gear 41 is in mesh with the gear 43, the wringer will be driven in one direction, but when the gear 42 is in mesh with the gear 43, the said wringer will be rotated in the opposite direction.

To shift the shaft 37 and the gears 41 and 42, there is freely mounted on the shaft 37 a collar 44 which is mounted between the' male member 36 and a collar 45 rigidly attached to the shaft 37. Theucollar 44 is provided with trunnions 46 engaged by the upper end of a lever 47 pivoted at 48 to the wringer board 28. The lower end of the lever 47 is attached to one end of a connecting rod 50 by means of collar nuts 51. The other end of the said rod is pivotally attached at 52 to an oscillating member 53 having a bearing 54 on a bracket 55 attached to the wringer board. The oscillating member 53 is provided with a handle 56 by means of which said member is oscillated. When said member is oscillated, the shaft 37and the gears 41 and 42 are reciprocated. The three positions of the handle 56, in Fig.3, indicate the neutral and reverse positions of the gears 41 and 42.

The motor 18 is mounted on a cross brace 58, one end of which is hinged at '59 to a cross member 60 attached to the legs 2 on one side of the tub. The other end of the brace 58 is provided with a kerf 61 which receives a member 62 attached to one of the legs 2, see Fig. 7. The kerf 61 provides a flexible extension 63," which is clamped against the member 62 by a bolt 64, thereby permitting the end of the brace 58, opposite the hinge 59, to be elevated and lowered. This construction of the brace 58 permits the motor 18 to be raised or lowered, and the tension of the belt 19 to be adjusted.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a device of the type specified, a driving shaft, a supporting member adapted to be swung around said shaft, a longitudinally shiftable driven shaft mounted on said support, a gear mounted on said driving shaft and gears mounted on said driven shaft and adapted to be placed in mesh with the gear on the driving shaft.

2. In a device of the type specified, a driving shaft, a support adapted to be swung around said shaft, a shiftable driven" on said driving shaft, gears mounted on said driven shaft and adapted to be placed in mesh with said gear on the driving shaft and on opposite sides thereof, whereby said driven shaft may be rotated in opposite (lireetions, and means for shifting said driven shaft.

4. In a device of the type specified, a horizontal shaft, a worm mounted thereon, a vertical shaft, a gear mounted on said vertical shaft and adapted to be operated by said worm, a swinging member pivotally mounted in relation to said vertical shaft, a horizontal shaft carried by said swinging member and adapted to be operated by said vertical shaft.

5. In a device of the type specified, a vertical shaft, a gear mounted thereon, a shift-- able horizontal shaft, gears mounted thereon and adapted to be placed in mesh with said gear on the vertical shaft and on opposite sides thereof, a swinging member pivotally mounted in relation to said vertical shaft and forming bearings for said horizontal shaft, a driven member mounted on said swinging member and adapted to be operated by said horizontal shaft, and a connection between said horizontal shaft and said driven member, said connection being adapted to maintain said driven member in operative connection with said shiftable horizontal shaft at all times, and means for shifting said horizontal shaft.

In testimony whereof I affix my. signature, in presence-of two witnesses.

PETER T. COFFIELD. Witnesses R. J. MOGARTY, MATTHEW SIEBLER. 

